In the past several years online education has literally exploded. It seems that there are new institutions entering the online education space on a monthly basis, and the demand from educational consumers is keeping pace. The economic down turn of the past 12 months has contributed in part to a record number of new potential students applying for federal aid and looking to retool their skills by returning to school. The average observer of this trend might conclude that the proverbial rising tide is raising all ships, but in fact this is not the case. The explosion in growth is being enjoyed by a relatively small pool of institutions (not withstanding technical schools and career colleges). The truth of the matter is that the degree seeking student market is dominated by the large for profit providers. These institutions are succeeding in spite of negative perceptions of quality, negative press and high tuition rates, which begs the question ‘how do they do it?’. More pointedly, why is it that traditional institutions with high quality programs, long standing traditions, positive consumer perceptions and affordable tuition rates, launch online programs online to dissolve them one or two years later?

The first and most obvious answer to this question is advertising, advertising, advertising. It is public record that University of Phoenix spends literally hundreds of millions of dollars a year on advertising for its degree programs. The Cardinal Stadium naming rights alone cost 220 million! Small to mid-size institutions simply cannot compete with marketing budgets of this size. That being said, there are ways for small to mid-size schools to compete, but they do require these institutions to change their understanding of the admissions process.

The biggest challenges that face traditional institutions, new to online program offerings, are internal. Traditional colleges and universities are used to the students coming to them. The belief is that if a student wants to enroll, they will submit all of the necessary paperwork by the stated deadlines and wait for an admissions decision. The enrollment process is reactive on the part of the institution and there is no ‘sales cycle’. It is conceivable that a traditional student could arrive on campus at the start of a semester having never spoken a word to a member of the administration at their chosen college.

The main mistake that traditional institutions make when launching online programs is assuming that the enrollment process will mirror that of the traditional campus. It is fairly common that a given college launches an online program and assumes that students will simply show up and fill the virtual classrooms. This is, of course, wishful thinking and quickly leads to significant capital expenditures with little return. The traditional enrollment model calls for information to be sent out by mail or email and in rare cases a phone call to the prospective student that inquires about degree programs. There is a misconception that an inquiry indicates a concrete desire to enroll. This belief often contributes to inaction on the part of a college. If an institution is purchasing inquiries or ‘leads’ for its programs and failing to actively pursue the prospects, they are literally throwing their advertising budgets away.

Enrollment efforts in support of online programs must be proactive as opposed to reactive. Active enrollment models require that College and Universities do something that is foreign and uncomfortable…Sell! Furthermore the idea that a college must sell itself to a prospective student is distasteful to many college administrators. After all, selling college is the domain of low quality for profit providers… right? Maybe not.

Experienced professionals in the field of active enrollment will agree that active enrollment is selling, and it isn’t. The process of advising a prospective students calls for the admissions professional to do all of the following:

· Educate the prospect about online programs.
· Determine the prospect’s eligibility to enroll.
· Help the prospect evaluate the various program offerings.
· Guide the prospect through the admissions process.

This list is deceptively simple. To meet all of these requirements, the admissions professional must have a complete understanding of institutional policies, the educational landscape and be able to sell. But, it is important to note that the opportunity to advise a prospective student does not readily present itself. An online admissions department must actively pursue prospective students via phone and email to even get an opportunity to conduct an admissions interview. In short, active enrollment models call for an admissions department to benchmark required activity levels and manage toward those requirements. Active enrollment also calls for institutions to begin evaluating metrics which may not be familiar such as lead to contact rates, contact to applicant rates, applicant to enrollment rates and cost per new student acquisition.

Success in online enrollment means that traditional institutions must re-examine how they perceive and pursue admissions. Doing so may present significant administrative challenges. Colleges often experience significant growing pains while determining the optimal equation to facilitate online enrollment, which can include substantial expense. The difference between colleges that succeed in launching online programs and those that fail is a willingness to push through the painful, expensive stage. Successful institutions are also willing to change, and accept that the traditional model for enrollment will not help build a profitable online student population.

How can you compete?

1. Change up your approach to enrollment. Accept that an active enrollment model is necessary.
2. Dedicate resources to building, training and managing an online admissions team. (Implement a CRM)
3. Develop systems to evaluate relevant enrollment metrics and advertising expenditures.
4. Dedicate funds to lead generation. Brand building efforts are not a priority when launching a new program and they are too expensive!
5. Pursue corporate relationships. Corporations that offer tuition reimbursement are a great source of low-acquisition-cost students.
6. Consider an experienced partner. An experienced consultant is far less expensive than money wasted on efforts that do not yield enrollment.